Dr. Deborah Ruf, noted high intelligence specialist and author of Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind

Delivered on Tuesday, April 18, 2006

The Pennsylvania Department of Education, in partnership with the Center for Schools and Communities, offered a one hour live online professional development session for educators of gifted students.

Deborah Ruf, Ph. D., a high intelligence specialist in the field of gifted education and author of Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind reviewed levels and profiles of intelligence.

Dr. Ruf described how the ability range within the gifted group is huge with each level requiring different educational treatment and she touched on how gender and personality issues contribute to individual achievement and classroom performance. A portion of the session featured a Q & A segment where participants had the opportunity to ask specific questions of Dr. Ruf regarding both her "Ruf Estimates of Levels of Giftedness" handout article and her book, Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind. Dr. Ruf also led a discussion on how schools can make important, low cost structural changes in order to meet these diverse needs.

View the recorded online presentation

(Note: In order to view the recorded presentation, you must have the Elluminate Live! Java application downloaded to your personal computer. There is no cost to download the software.)

Presentation and handouts for this session (in PDF format):

• Levels of Giftedness: How Levels and Profiles Should Effect Services
  A presentation by Deborah L. Ruf, Ph.D. - delivered on April 18, 2006

• EQ and the IQ Connection by Deborah L. Ruf, Ph.D.
  (Based on a presentation made at the May, 2000, Wallace Symposium)

• What You Need to Know About Individualizing for Gifted in Your Schools by Deborah L. Ruf, Ph.D., 2006

• Ruf Estimates of Levels of Giftedness
  Deborah L. Ruf, Ph.D., 2004

To order a personally autographed copy of Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind directly from Deborah Ruf, visit the Educational Options website at http://www.educationaloptions.com and then click on the book reference at the bottom of the page.

About the Presenter:

Deborah L. Ruf, Ph.D., Educational Options, from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota, works professionally as a specialist in gifted assessment and individualized interpretations and guidance for gifted children and adults. Dr. Ruf is the author of numerous articles and papers on school issues and the social and emotional adjustment of gifted children, particularly children at the highest levels of giftedness. She recently wrote the High Ability Assessment Bulletin for the Stanford-Binet, Fifth Edition for Riverside Publishing. She is the author of a book entitled "Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind" that was released in July 2005. In 2003, Dr. Ruf accepted a 2-year volunteer appointment with American Mensa as the National Gifted Children Program Coordinator and is working to coordinate the efforts of numerous gifted advocacy groups while making Mensa a more welcoming organization to young people. A national level conference presenter, researcher on Levels of Giftedness and how intellectual profile affects adjustment, Dr. Ruf consults with adult groups on the social and emotional intelligence of their members. Her particular expertise is in “levels of intelligence” as well as exceptionally to profoundly gifted individuals of all ages. The parent of three highly to profoundly gifted young adults, Dr. Ruf has taught, supervised, and administered in elementary through graduate school education. Her Ph.D. is in Educational Psychology with emphases in Test & Measurement and Learning & Cognition. For more information see http://www.educationaloptions.com.